Online Risk Behaviours Among Adolescents: Identifying Areas of Digital Vulnerability

ABSTRACT As a period during which they undergo important physical, emotional and social changes, adolescence is of great importance for minors. In addition, adolescence is an initial stage in terms of children's use of their own mobile devices and their first access to the internet and social networks, an activity that becomes a generalised habit in late adolescence. Here, a qualitative study is performed using 3 discussion groups with Spanish adolescents (14–16 years old) to identify areas of digital vulnerability, complemented by a quantitative study of a sample of 300 Spanish adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age to determine in which digital activities adolescents perceive more risk in each of the previously identified areas. The main results of the study indicate that although adolescents feel confident and secure in their digital activity (internet and social networks), they feel greater vulnerability and perceive a greater degree of risk in activities in which their privacy is endangered, especially when their personal information is used without prior consent. In contrast, adolescents perceive a lower degree of risk in activities that are directly linked to their digital leisure, such as video games or visiting influencer sites. Finally, this study reveals that girls and 12–13‐year‐olds are more aware of the dangers of the internet; therefore, their perception of risk is greater than that of boys and 14–15‐year‐olds, groups that are particularly vulnerable because they perceive a low level of risk in their digital activities.